Last year, the number of deaths exceeded 360,000, marking the second-highest level since the start of mortality statistics in 1970. This figure represents the highest toll since the peak of COVID-19 in 2022. As the population ages, those aged 80 and older accounted for more than half of all deaths. While the overall suicide rate decreased, the rate among teenagers increased, indicating differing trends across age groups.
According to the '2025 Cause of Death Statistics' released by the National Data Agency on September 22, the total number of deaths last year was 362,968, an increase of 4,399 (1.2%) from the previous year. This is the second-highest number of deaths recorded, following the all-time high of 372,939 in 2022. The average number of deaths per day was 994, which is 15 more than the previous year. The mortality rate was 712.6 per 100,000 population, up by 10.0 (1.4%) from the previous year.
However, the age-standardized mortality rate decreased by 9.3 to 285.3 per 100,000 population. This suggests that while the total number of deaths has increased, it is largely due to the growing proportion of older individuals in the population rather than a deterioration in overall mortality levels.
Park Hyun-jung, head of the Population Trends Division at the National Data Agency, explained during a briefing that the increase in deaths is primarily influenced by the aging population, stating, "2022 was the highest on record, and this is the second highest." Last year, individuals aged 80 and older accounted for 54.7% of all deaths, an increase of 0.6 percentage points from the previous year and 13.9 percentage points from a decade ago. Among male deaths, 41.9% were aged 80 and older, while 69.4% of female deaths fell into this age group, highlighting the significant impact of aging on overall mortality rates.
In terms of causes of death, cancer was the leading cause, with 90,203 cancer-related deaths making up 24.9% of all fatalities. The cancer mortality rate was 177.1 per 100,000 population, a 1.6% increase from the previous year. The most common types of cancer deaths were from lung, liver, colorectal, pancreatic, and stomach cancers.
Heart disease ranked second, with 33,784 deaths, followed by pneumonia with 30,965 deaths. Together, cancer, heart disease, and pneumonia accounted for 42.7% of all deaths. The agency noted that cancer and heart disease consistently show high mortality rates, while pneumonia has maintained its position as the third leading cause since 2018, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period.
The top causes of death among teenagers included cancer, heart disease, pneumonia, cerebrovascular disease, intentional self-harm (suicide), Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, sepsis, hypertensive diseases, and liver disease. These ten causes accounted for 67.2% of all deaths in this age group. Notably, sepsis rose two places to become the eighth leading cause, while hypertensive and liver diseases each dropped one position.
There was a clear distinction in causes of death between younger and older age groups. For those in their teens to 40s, intentional self-harm was the leading cause of death, while cancer became the leading cause for those in their 50s and older. In fact, suicide and malignant neoplasms accounted for 50.1% to 64.3% of all deaths among individuals aged 10 to 40.
Overall, deaths from intentional self-harm decreased. Last year, there were 14,144 deaths from self-harm, a reduction of 728 (4.9%) from the previous year. The suicide rate also fell to 27.8 per 100,000 population, down by 1.4 (4.7%) from the previous year. After two consecutive years of increases in 2023 and 2024, the rate decreased in 2025.
However, a different trend emerged among teenagers. The suicide rate for this age group rose by 7.5% to 8.6 per 100,000 population, making it the only age group to experience an increase in suicide rates. Among teenagers, the suicide rate for females was higher than for males, while the opposite was true for those aged 20 and older.
Additionally, the number of maternal deaths, which occur during childbirth, returned to the 30s for the first time since 2021 (23 deaths). Last year, 33 maternal deaths related to pregnancy and childbirth were reported, a 37.5% (9 deaths) increase from the previous year. In comparisons of maternal mortality rates among OECD countries, South Korea's rate was 13.0, higher than the OECD average of 10.9.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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